The present invention relates to a vehicle transmission with a large number of gears, particularly for farm tractors.
Transmissions are known which permit gear shifting under load, i.e. without interrupting torque transmission from the engine to the wheels. This is normally achieved using selectively engageable clutches, one for each gear, or using two clutches, one each for a respective drive shaft, the drive shafts being connectable to a driven shaft by means of respective numbers of gears defining different gear ratios.
In both cases, the total number of available gear ratios is relatively small, thus preventing the full power of the engine from being exploited in all possible operating conditions of the vehicle, and particularly when the engine is used to power auxiliary attachments by means of a power take-off device operatively connected to the transmission. Moreover, only a small number of reverse gears are normally available, and in any case fewer than the number of forward gears.